5 ms·

iMacs stood for clean desktops with little hazzle. Now you need basically a docking station and tons of wires to connect your "legacy USB-A" equipment such as a

by ktpsns 5y ago

iMacs stood for clean desktops with little hazzle. Now you need basically a docking station and tons of wires to connect your "legacy USB-A" equipment such as a goddamned printer or your goddamned Arduino board.

thegagne 5y ago
A simple USB hub is fine for those, and kind of preferred for most low throughout stuff. I don’t want to have to reach behind the device to plug stuff in. The main issue I have with that is running into power or bandwidth problems for more power hungry things like rgb keyboards.
- jltsiren 5y ago
  This is a flaw that has been present in iMacs for a long time: there are no easily accessible ports of any kind. Having to use a hub with something that is supposed to be an all-in-one desktop feels like a category error. The chin would be a perfect place for a few ports, but Apple design is very much form over function.
- GekkePrutser 5y ago
  Indeed I always glue a usb hub to the foot of my iMac at work. The ports at the back are too annoying to use. Apple forgets that people need to use these things rather than just admire them
duskwuff 5y ago
Neither a printer nor an Arduino is likely to have a captive USB cable. USB-C to USB-B/micro-B/etc cables exist. The only situation where USB-C ports on a host are an issue is for devices with captive cables, like USB mice. For those devices, inexpensive adapters are readily available.
- salamandersauce 5y ago
  Except USB C to B or micro-B are not free and need to be purchased typically. A ton of devices still come with just USB A cables even if one end is USB C. A thin desktop gets you very little.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - jonfw 5y ago
    We're talking about a computer that costs several hundred times the price of the cable you're complaining about
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
    - manigandham 5y ago
      That's not an excuse to spend even more, or create more waste. And such an expensive device should cater to typical consumers.
bitwize 5y ago
Eventually, you won't have to because USB-C will be the accepted standard for all these things. And the impetus was Apple having the courage to leave USB-A in the past.
- llampx 5y ago
  Apple tried to leave USB in the past in 2015. To date that hasn't worked. Any correlation is specious at best.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - jonfw 5y ago
    By what standard has that not worked? I haven't used a hub in over a year
  - qball 5y ago
    It's worth noting that Apple has been trying to leave USB in the past ever since USB has existed. FireWire and Thunderbolt are more or less the same thing with the same advantages (over USB) for the same reasons, and with the exact same downsides (security implications of DMA on external ports, extra cost and complexity).
- hungryforcodes 5y ago
  It will be another 5 years out if even true -- and my MBP has had useless USB-C ports since what - 2016? So many dongles...I hate it. So that's 5 years + 5 more years. Yuck! And for what? Other manufacturers include both...because that's what customers WANT.
cmelbye 5y ago
USB-B to USB-C cables cost a few dollars.
reissbaker 5y ago
Most people don't have an Arduino board, and most printers these days are wireless. My non-tech parents, siblings, and friends connect very little to their desktops — typically just a mouse and a keyboard (and half the time those are wireless too).
- bmitc 5y ago
  Then why do they need an iMac?
  - atoav 5y ago
    Because it comes with prestige and they want to show everybody that they have the funding.
    - andyana 5y ago
      This made me laugh.
  - reissbaker 5y ago
    Why does anyone need anything? The iMac is a stationary computer with a large screen that runs macOS and looks pretty. I don't think most people's primary consideration for desktop vs laptop is port selection; it's whether or not they want the computer to move around with them. If you don't need it to move and will keep it in one place, a desktop makes sense. If you want to cart your computer around, a laptop makes sense. The iMac is especially nice as a stationary computer for most people: the monitor and computer are integrated into the same housing, so it's one less cable to deal with. With a wireless keyboard and mouse, the only cord coming off your desk is the power cable for the iMac. In comparison a laptop + external display will feel a bit clunky, and will come out to be more expensive anyway. If you never move it, it's a waste.
jonfw 5y ago
Raspberry pi's actually don't come with cables- so you'd just buy the right cable when you pick it up. And my low-end printer from 6 years ago is wireless.
qball 5y ago
>iMacs stood for clean desktops with little hassle Yes, but that's always, ever since the original G3 iMac, come with the caveat of "as long as the only things you're using the computer for was covered in those 2007-era ads". Besides, if you have the money for the iMac experience, you also have the money for a printer that sits on the network (though admittedly that's not something that the iMac's target audience understands) as well as devices that use the new ports (or for the people who understand that it's just the connector that changed, conversion cables). If you don't want to pay for the aesthetic, or have the foresight to realize that you can't use the aesthetic (because you need your computer as an appliance more than you need it to be an art piece), it turns out that Apple makes a computer that's functionally identical to the iMac for literally half the price (this was less true pre-2006, but the point still stands). Yeah, you have to bring your own screen, but if you need to save money that badly then buying a new screen every time you replace your computer was already a non-starter, right? (Note that this rebuttal is in no way defending the fact that the 2 extra USB 3 ports are gated to the model that costs $200 more than the base price, which is an insane markup on ports that cost a fraction of a cent each, or in other words, the USB hub that Apple sells is built into the machine at 100 dollars a port.)
ChristianGeek 5y ago
You can buy USB A to C adapters that are just a plug. No docking station or cables needed. That’s what I did with my 16” MacBook Pro. Big deal.

by ktpsns 5y ago

thegagne 5y ago

A simple USB hub is fine for those, and kind of preferred for most low throughout stuff. I don’t want to have to reach behind the device to plug stuff in. The main issue I have with that is running into power or bandwidth problems for more power hungry things like rgb keyboards.

jltsiren 5y ago
This is a flaw that has been present in iMacs for a long time: there are no easily accessible ports of any kind. Having to use a hub with something that is supposed to be an all-in-one desktop feels like a category error. The chin would be a perfect place for a few ports, but Apple design is very much form over function.
GekkePrutser 5y ago
Indeed I always glue a usb hub to the foot of my iMac at work. The ports at the back are too annoying to use. Apple forgets that people need to use these things rather than just admire them

duskwuff 5y ago

Neither a printer nor an Arduino is likely to have a captive USB cable. USB-C to USB-B/micro-B/etc cables exist. The only situation where USB-C ports on a host are an issue is for devices with captive cables, like USB mice. For those devices, inexpensive adapters are readily available.

salamandersauce 5y ago
Except USB C to B or micro-B are not free and need to be purchased typically. A ton of devices still come with just USB A cables even if one end is USB C. A thin desktop gets you very little.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- jonfw 5y ago
  We're talking about a computer that costs several hundred times the price of the cable you're complaining about
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - manigandham 5y ago
    That's not an excuse to spend even more, or create more waste. And such an expensive device should cater to typical consumers.

bitwize 5y ago

Eventually, you won't have to because USB-C will be the accepted standard for all these things. And the impetus was Apple having the courage to leave USB-A in the past.

llampx 5y ago
Apple tried to leave USB in the past in 2015. To date that hasn't worked. Any correlation is specious at best.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- jonfw 5y ago
  By what standard has that not worked? I haven't used a hub in over a year
- qball 5y ago
  It's worth noting that Apple has been trying to leave USB in the past ever since USB has existed. FireWire and Thunderbolt are more or less the same thing with the same advantages (over USB) for the same reasons, and with the exact same downsides (security implications of DMA on external ports, extra cost and complexity).
hungryforcodes 5y ago
It will be another 5 years out if even true -- and my MBP has had useless USB-C ports since what - 2016? So many dongles...I hate it. So that's 5 years + 5 more years. Yuck! And for what? Other manufacturers include both...because that's what customers WANT.

cmelbye 5y ago

USB-B to USB-C cables cost a few dollars.

reissbaker 5y ago

Most people don't have an Arduino board, and most printers these days are wireless. My non-tech parents, siblings, and friends connect very little to their desktops — typically just a mouse and a keyboard (and half the time those are wireless too).

bmitc 5y ago
Then why do they need an iMac?
- atoav 5y ago
  Because it comes with prestige and they want to show everybody that they have the funding.
  - andyana 5y ago
    This made me laugh.
- reissbaker 5y ago
  Why does anyone need anything? The iMac is a stationary computer with a large screen that runs macOS and looks pretty. I don't think most people's primary consideration for desktop vs laptop is port selection; it's whether or not they want the computer to move around with them. If you don't need it to move and will keep it in one place, a desktop makes sense. If you want to cart your computer around, a laptop makes sense. The iMac is especially nice as a stationary computer for most people: the monitor and computer are integrated into the same housing, so it's one less cable to deal with. With a wireless keyboard and mouse, the only cord coming off your desk is the power cable for the iMac. In comparison a laptop + external display will feel a bit clunky, and will come out to be more expensive anyway. If you never move it, it's a waste.

jonfw 5y ago

Raspberry pi's actually don't come with cables- so you'd just buy the right cable when you pick it up. And my low-end printer from 6 years ago is wireless.

qball 5y ago

>iMacs stood for clean desktops with little hassle Yes, but that's always, ever since the original G3 iMac, come with the caveat of "as long as the only things you're using the computer for was covered in those 2007-era ads". Besides, if you have the money for the iMac experience, you also have the money for a printer that sits on the network (though admittedly that's not something that the iMac's target audience understands) as well as devices that use the new ports (or for the people who understand that it's just the connector that changed, conversion cables). If you don't want to pay for the aesthetic, or have the foresight to realize that you can't use the aesthetic (because you need your computer as an appliance more than you need it to be an art piece), it turns out that Apple makes a computer that's functionally identical to the iMac for literally half the price (this was less true pre-2006, but the point still stands). Yeah, you have to bring your own screen, but if you need to save money that badly then buying a new screen every time you replace your computer was already a non-starter, right? (Note that this rebuttal is in no way defending the fact that the 2 extra USB 3 ports are gated to the model that costs $200 more than the base price, which is an insane markup on ports that cost a fraction of a cent each, or in other words, the USB hub that Apple sells is built into the machine at 100 dollars a port.)

ChristianGeek 5y ago

You can buy USB A to C adapters that are just a plug. No docking station or cables needed. That’s what I did with my 16” MacBook Pro. Big deal.